Feb 04 2008
Parable of the Sower
God is change. This is a phrase that comes up so often in the book Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler. It seems as in the book, the only hope of the ending chaos is religion. No matter what religion they believe in, religion seems to represent hope for the characters. People seek for a religion they believe is suitable for their life and the world. A religion they believe that can fix the future.
Lauren, the creator of Earthseed, illustrates a hope of the world when she invents a new source of religion for herself. She believes that religion needs to be changed throughout time, because the world changes, as well as people. Things are not as valuable as they were before such as cars and oil, and what may have been the source of life may not be so in the future. As Lauren continues the journey up North, she starts to build a community of believers for her new religion Earthseed. I believe this new religion represents hope for each of the new believers in the book. Religion is something you commit yourself to, and is something you believe. Faith brings hope for the future, and this is what the characters are hoping to find in their lives. Though faith is key to a religion, Earthseed embraces the idea of action in order for change to occur. When more than one individual join for a cause, there is greater power especially through their actions.
If we look at our lives today, many of us may believe in a God, a creator, or maybe nothing at all. People that believe in a God mostly believe there is a greater power than the world and people. In the book, I see religion as hope because people want to believe that there is something greater than the world they live in. They hope for a new world, and that hope represents God. As much as God is feared and misinterpreted in the book with all the chaos going on, Religions such as Earthseed gives Lauren a guide in living her life. She wants to live a better life, as well as help others improve their lives, hoping she can change the world into a better livable place. When Lauren was asked what community members of Earthseed have to do by her current love, Bankole, she responds with, “The essentials… are to learn to shape God with forethought, care, and world; to educate and benefit their community, their families, and themselves; and to contribute to the fulfillment of the Destiny.” She also describes Destiny by saying “A unifying, purposeful life here on Earth, and the hope of heaven for themselves and their children. A real heaven, not mythology or philosophy. A heaven that will be theirs to shape.” (263) Though this religion may seem simple and basic for some people, like Bankole, for Lauren, Earthseed is a new beginning to her life, a life that is meaningful, and a life that seeks for hope with actions. Earthseed embraces unity and a purposeful life on earth.
When the world is in destruction and chaos, we search for a greater power to look up to. A power that we believe may be able to save our world and power that we can trust and put our faith into, in order for a better life. Though it is a bit different than Lauren’s religion Earthseed, Lauren and her community members believe that they can be the start of change in their community.
Create a free edublog to get your own comment avatar (and more!)
It is uncanny how people will try to unite under a god or one powerful being in their times of despair and hoplessness which is exactly what Lauren is doing in her book. She grew up listening to her father teach her about one God, but how could there be some all-powerful being in such a cruel world? She had to find solace in some other higher being, hence the creation of Earthseed. One possible thought on religion might be that she felt the God she had been raised to know had failed her somehow by taking her mother when Lauren was young and leaving her to live her life “sharing.” Since she could possibly resent this God for her past hardships, she probably found comfort in something of her own creation that wouldn’t fail her. Lauren’s creation of a new religion has probably helped her cope with the past and have hope for the future. If everyone understood that her religion is based on God as being ever changing and treating fellow man with respect, maybe the world would be a better place.